With 5 credit cards, $5k in the bank, and a new laptop we started Five9.com.

The core team holed up in my apartment in Alameda and a small office in Walnut Creek, and banged out some seriously industry shaking ideas and software. Back in 2004, no one wanted to invest in ASP software ventures, the dot bust had scared a lot of people, and “experts” told us “VoIP won’t work.” And we competed with Cisco and Avaya.

But fighting as the under dog when no one thought we could win was the whole fun of it! A lot of investors were hesitant to invest in our space after the initial ASP bust, but Mitchell Keurtzman and Hummer Winblad believed in us and gave us a chance to prove we could build a lasting brand. We prevailed with a smarter product, more creative people and a sense of ethics to our customers and community. We never let them intimidate us. We never gave up. That was the secret.

While most of us are no longer with the company that lives in Pleasanton, CA, I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Five9 and the people I built it with. However, I won’t miss sleeping next to my phone…

A recent design of their messaging (not done by me)